Tool-fishing socket.



c. A. RA'slvlussEN @L R. M. C LARK.

TO0L`FISHING SOCKET.

APPLICATION FILED ocT.28,1914.

fyi)

zvm ATTORNEYS CHESTER A. RASMUSSEN AND ROBERT M. CLARK, OF YENANG-YAUNG,UPPER BURMAI-I,

INDIA. 1

TOOL-FISHING SOCKET.

Speeicationof Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHESTER A. RASMUS- sEN and ROBERT M. CLARK,machinists of the Burmah Oil Company, Ltd., and residents ofYenangyaung, Upper Burmah, India, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Tool-Fishing Sockets, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to the drilling of wells, and the object thereofis to provide a socket for attachment to a tool, which has becomedetached from the operating cable, and subsequent removal from a well.

A further object is to construct the socket so as to be readily detachedfrom a tool so firmly 'lodged as to resist all eforts at removal, andrefusing to yield to pulling and jarring, to allow the withdrawal of thesocket only from the well; and a further object vis to provide afrangible element,

within the socket, which'does not interfere with the normal operation ofthe socket but which, when broken, renders the tool attaching devices ofthe socket inoperative to allow of the withdrawal of the socket fromthe' well.

The invention `is fully described in the following specification, ofwhich the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate partsare ldesignated by the same tion of a detail, and adapted for largesizes of tools.

In the drawings forming a part of this application we have shown a body'casing 6, closed at its topwhere it is provided with the conventionalscrew-thread 7, and open at the opposite end, tapered as shown lat 8,and said casing is also provided with a bore 9 adjacent its closed endopening into a larger bore 10 to form a shoulder 11, and

longitudinally slotted in the position of said last named bore, as shownat 12, and the bore 10 opens into a circular recess 13 to form ashoulder 14, said recess being tapered inwardly and downwardly at. itslowered end, as shown at 15, to approximately meet the taper of the openend 8, the diameter of the casing at this point being approximately thatof the bore 10, and said casing is also provided with a pocket 16 in theside thereof, in the position of the bore 9, and in which rests a latch17 normally forced toward the center of the casing by means of a spring18.

Longitudinally movable in the bore 9 is a-plunger-rod 19, closelyfitting said bore,

having an enlarged head 20 recessed as shown at 21, and having anannular groove 22 beneath the latch 17 to form a shoulder 23 and abeveled surface 24, this being an important feature of the invention,and said rod. carries two collars 25 and 26 held in p osition by meansof bolts 27 and 28, respectively, the former of which collar supportsone end of a coil spring 29 which also abuts on the shoulder. 11 andtends to force the plunger downwardly in the casing; the collar 26,together with the shoulder formed by the head 20 of the plunger, servesto maintain a plurality of gripping jaws 30 in position, the lower endsof which are internally threaded, as 'shown at 31, and externallytapered as shown at'32v to conform to the taper 15 of the recess 13whereby, in the downward movement of the plunger, the

' jaws 30 collectively act as a clutch for engagement with a tool whichit is desired to recover, and the shoulder 14 prevents more than a'predetermined degree of upward movement of the plunger in the casing.

The casing 6 is provided, above the upper end ofthe plunger, withdiametrically arranged busliings 33 having a transversely arranged pin34 loosely held therein and projected over the end of the plunger, andimprisonedv by means of screw-threaded plugs 35, and said bushings arelocked in position by means of small screws 36.

When a tool has become detached from the cable and rests within thewell, usuallyat the bottom thereof, the device described, hereinafterreferred to as a socket, is connected with the cable and lowered intothe well and, when thetool enters' the casing 6 and the plunger headrests upon the upper end of said tool, said casing may descend until thepin 34`rests upon the upper end ofthe plunger, thereby insuring thefullest expansion of the clutch formed by the jaws 30 and, when tensionis placed upon the cable and the casing 8 drawn upwardly, the 11o taper'15 actingy upon the taper 32 of the jaws 30 serves to force the saidjaws into gripping engagement with the tool and' casing 6 to fall and,in such sudden fall,

the frangible pin 34 is broken o5 andthe upper end -of the plungerpasses upwardly into the bore 9 beyond the normal position of the pin,this plunger movement carrying the annular groove 22 above the latch 17,the beveled surface 24 permitting this, and, in the fall of the casing,the taper 15 passes belowthetaper-32 of the jaws 30, whereby they are nolonger in gripping connection with the tool; when tension is againplaced upon the cable and the casing 6 drawn upwardly, the latch 17 isfree to enter the annular groove 22 but, because of the shoulder 23,said plunger must rise with the casing, this latch engagement occurringbefore the taper 15 has reached the taper 32 of the jaws 30, and thesaid'jaws are thus released from the tool, and the socket, as a whole,maybe withdrawn from the well, without the tool. I y u In Fig. 5 isshown a slight modification of the latch 17 which possesses theadvantage of being enabled to be released from the tool without the useof the frangible pin required for the form shown and described and ismore particularly. designed for sockets of relatively great diameter andconsequent weight, a latch 37 being forced inwardly by means of a sprin38P and a removable plug 39 to engage ieplunger in the position of theannular groove 22; this latch has a small recess' 40 in the end thereofand, in the retracted position of the latch shown, a trip .41 restswithin said recess and bears upon the plunger-rod, said trip being heldin operative position by means of a spring 42 and a detachablescrew-threaded plug 43, and it will be noted that the base of the tripis rounded, as

shown at 44, whereby the latch trip may swing on said base. Theoperation of this form is similar in all respects to that alreadydescribed up to the point of unsuccessful tool withdrawal, the casinghaving descended to its downward limit, carrying the trip 41 past andbeneath the annular groove 22, and. then drawn upwardly to cause thejaws to engage the tool, but, in this downward -movement of the trip thespring thereof has forced the same into the annular groove, but notreleasing the latch 37, althoughv said latch is permitted to be movedinwardly by its spring, the reason for this failurevto release the latchbeing that the trip still remains in the recess 40 and rests between thelatch and the reduced surface of the plunger-rod until, in its downwardmovement with the casing 6, it glides over the beveled surface 24 andforces the latch outwardly; however, when the casing 6 is drawn upwardlyby the cable to cause the jaws to engage the tool, the trip 41 strikesthe shoulder 23 and is moved thereby out of the recess `40, the roundedbase of the` trip permitting this movement, and the latch then bearsdirectly upon the plunger-rod, but above the annulargroove 22 and, ifthe tension be Vmaintained on the cable, the tool is not released. Ifthe tool resists withdrawal, the cable is slackened to permitthe casing6 to again descend, thereby carrying the latch 37 below the annulargroove and, when the cable is again subjected to strain, the casing 6again moves upwardly until the latch strikes against the shoulder 23,this movement of the casing being less than is required to actuate theclutch jaws, and the socket, as a whole, is free to be withdrawn fromthe well, but in the operation of attachment to -a tool, the cable mayvbe slackened but once withthis form unless it is desired to release thetool within the well. Both forms require one slackening of the cable tovcarry the parts into tool engaging position, one upward lmovement towithdraw the tool, and a sec ond slackeningof the cable to release thesocket from an immovable tool; both employ a latch in the casing, and agroove in the plunger, but the form last described is not adaptable tosockets of small diameters as the casing walls are not suflicientlythick to accommodate the trip 41, although it possesses'the-v advantageover theforna first described of not destroying any portion thereof, asthe frangible pin in the first form.

rlhe socket may be made of any size, and of any desired materials, andmay also be constructed to accommodate the same to any tools y'not ofthe conventional form, but this is arbitrary aswill be understood, theintent beingto prevent the loss of the socket because of toolsAimmovably held within a well, and we reserve the right to make anychanges over the forms shown, within the scope of the following claims,which do not depart from the spirit of the invention, nor sacrifice itsadvantages.v

Having fully described what we claim as new, by Letters Patent, is

our invention, and deslre to secure 1. A device of the class described,com-y 2. A device of the class described, comprising a casing, a plungertherein provided with an annular groove, a clutch on said plunger, meanson said casing for actuating said clutch, in the upward movement of saidcasing, a latch on said casing, and a frangible element preventing, theentry of said latch into said groove, whileunbroken, and means forbreaking said frangible 1element. .l

3. A device of the class described, comprising a casing, a plungertherein provided with an annular groove, a spring for moving saidplunger downwardly in said casing,

a plurality of flexible jaws on said plunger 15 forming a tool clutch,the interior of said casing being tapered to actuate said clutch jawsinwardly, a latch on said casing, a frangible pin in said casing, abovesaid plunger and normally maintaining said 20 latch and groove at aninoperative distance from, each other, and a detachable plug forpermitting access to said pin to replace the same, and means forbreaking said pin.

In testimony whereof we have signed our 25 names to this specification.

CHESTER, A. .--RASMUSSEN.

ROBERT M. CLARK.

